Ten diverse authors make longlistAug 25: The countdown for the Guardian First Book Award began today, with a longlist which is the most diverse yet in ethnic origin and theme.

The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash AwHarper PerennialA story of four people set in Malaysia against the backdrop of the second world war. Salesman and fraudster Johnny, beautiful Snow Soong, Kunichika, who loves her, and Peter Wormwood, who loves her, too, take a journey into the jungle together which changes the course of their lives.Review: Bound in tropes of silkRead an extractBuy it at the Guardian bookshop

26a by Diana EvansChatto and WindusIdentical twins Georgia and Bessi live at 26 Waifer Aveue, where their Nigerian mother puts cayenne pepper on her Yorkshire pudding and their father roams the streets. The children build a universe of their own, but when reality comes knocking their fantasies start to give way. How will they cope in a separate, solitary world?Review: Two into oneRead an extractBuy it at the Guardian bookshop

The Ice Museum by Joanna KavennaVikingThule is the fabled lost land of the north, seen once by an ancient Greek explorer and never identified with certainty again. Joanna Kavenna travels through the lands that have been called Thule, and follows the legend's story from the travellers of the 19th century to the modern era and the melting of the ice.Review: Heartless voids and immensitiesRead an extractBuy it at the Guardian bookshop

Misfortune by Wesley StaceCapeWhen Lord Loveall names his adopted baby Rose in honour of his dead sister, his household assiduously ignores the fact that she is, in fact, a boy. Rose grows up blissfully unaware of her gender until the fateful day when she is banished as an impostor by those who want to claim her place as heir. Review: Skirting the issuesRead an extractBuy it at the Guardian bookshop